The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1887-06-23

Many experiments have BEEN rnade 10
measure the height Of waves in all sondi-
hons OF weather. One authority goes
high as sixty-four feet and another a.
low as fac fsnt, giving IL as his reason
that tho penetrating power Of wind can
not reach below that depth. OF this
philosopher it may be presumed that he
was martyr to sea sickness, and that
he must have conten.ed himself with
making his calculations in his study.
On the other hand, height Of sixty
four feet is almost as absurd, though it
is more in correspondence than five feet
can possibly be with our conception OF
the altitude of the majestic surges
which roll under the impulse Of storms
of wind along the surface Of the great
oceans. 1t is true that the earthquake
wave has been known to rise sixty feet;
yet surges Of this kind are happily scarce
since when they occur they are not only
in the habit Of razing whole towns upon
the coast line where they break, but OF
carrying some Of the vessels they may
encounter at anchor in the neighbor-
hood to the distance of days walk in
land. Practical experience, however,
will look with suspicion upon most Of
the scientific theories touching the nl-
ttude and velocity OF the waves. Prof..
Airy's table couples speed with dimen-
ensions, and, as a sample Of his calcutta
tons, il may be shown that q wave
100, 900 feet in breadth will travel at
the rate OF 533. 30 per second in water
that is 10000 feet deep. This is pos
sible but it is difficult to accept such
conclusions as exact. At all events,
there is nothing more deceptive than
the height of waves. The tallest seas
in the world run of Cape Horn, where,
whether the wind blows east or west,
they have holiday ground within
belt of eight sr ten degrees that COM
passes the globe without the intervon-
ton of break OF land. Any man who
has run, soy. before strong westerly
gale round the Horn will know tho
magnitude Of the yea, which follows his
ship. Viewed from the stern, when
the vessel sinks in the trough, the on
coming sea that is about to underrun
the ship, and lift her soaring to the fly
ing heavens will seem 10 heays its rush
ing summit to the height of the mizzen-
top; bat whom the summit is gained by
the observer, and the waves vowed
from there, il will Be seen that those
crests, which from the deck looked q
long way up, will now appear to DO o
long way down. II Is common shore
going phrase that the seas run noun
tains high. The idea implied is not
very generally accepted by sailors,
though The term may be sometimes
used by them for convenience. Tho
truth is, il waves were as tall as they
are popularly supposed to be, ne ship
could by any possibility live in them.
They are lofty to the fancy, because at
sea they are usually surveyed from low
free boards. To spectator ON
steamer, with q six-foot height OF side,
an Atlantic or Pacific surge would nec-
essarily appear IS mountain compared
to the aspect it would take, from the
deck Of an old line Of battle ship, with
thirty foot dip, or from one Of these
lofty, glazed. castellated structures
which in former times took six mouths
to jog soberly from the Thames TO the
Hooghly.-London Telegraph.